Prologue

9-11-2011

She did it. Achieving the hard earned success of her worldwide advanced communications network just wasn't enough. But now, this moment made it all worth it. She knew that for her to be truly successful by her own standards, she would need to contribute something that would benefit our world in a real and meaningful way. As a smile ran across her face, she new in her heart this was that elusive "thing" that she had worked her whole life towards.
Along the way to this place Dana had diverse challenges. The adversaries that she amassed in the last few years developing this technology were far more that she ever imagined. The list of foes included world leaders, powerful multinational corporations, members of the World Bank, powerful private investors, and even entire countries. "Who would have thought that doing something so good for our world community and our environment would have angered, no enraged so many people? Even those who claim, at the same time, to have;'The best interest of the people at heart'." she thought to herself.
Fortunately for Dana, the groundswell of support from the individual end user, and a large part of the general population had turned her into a pop culture hero of sorts. Of course this wasn't her own making. But it did help to protect her from an outward personal attack, although there were death threats, taking action would have caused too much exposure to those who really did want her out of the picture. The fear of economic and political repercussions not only stopped them, they even made sure that no one else did anything to hurt her. At least for the time being.
She open a bottle of Cos de Esternol, 1982, one of her favorite wines in the world. While it was not the most expensive, it was over $1000.00 a bottle, and it was a truly exquisite wine and a fantastic year for French wines. She bought this bottle just about ten years ago. It was a bottle of the very same wine that she celebrated her first business achievement that served the public with long term impact on the community it served. Although small in comparison to this event, it marked the moment she realized that she could mix business and community betterment together. "I think I will draw a bath while I wait for this wine to open up. Where is that decanter?" she found the decanter, poured the wine so it could breathe and gather the oxygen it needed for full flavor. Then she slipped into the bath. The candles were lit around the very large tub, making it feel very soft in the room. Debussy was playing on the CD. "'Claire de Lune', I love this piece", she thought to herself, as she melted into the hot bath water that was washing over her as her body sank into the the tub like apiece of iron sinking in the ocean. As her body settled to the bottom she thought, " I could just stay here like this forever". Dana drifted in thought, "It sure would be nice to share this evening with someone special. Well I guess that is the price you have to pay for choosing 'the road less traveled'. Isn't it? Oh well, maybe I should just focus on how great it is to be a part of something so great as this project." This was how she made it through without a relationship all these years. Rationalization. Costs. Everything on balance. These were the words and phrases that got her through. Obviously, while there would be much celebration, after the press conference tomorrow, tonight would be a time of introspection.
Dana stood up, the oily water from the bath glistened on her skin in the light of the candles. She was a beautiful women, striking in fact. Her body was tone and shapely. She knew she could have any number of men. That made it even more difficult for her to understand her choices, especially at times like this. Dana experienced deep conflict, knowing that she was accomplishing great things for countless others, but feeling so lonely in the process. "Does it have to be this way? Couldn't I have it all? It seems that I always go through this thought process at times like these." she said out loud. She slipped into her white, thigh high, silk Versace robe, and headed over to the CD player to start Vivaldi's "Four Seasons".
Allowing the enjoyment of a few indulgences over the years such as; fine clothing, Italian shoes, fine wines, art, and her passion for the symphony and opera. Dana poured herself a glass of the Cos de Esternol from the crystal decanter, held up the glass to study the beauty of it's opacity, placed her nose into the crystal Riedel stemware and noticed a hint of lavender and other wonderful fragrances almost indescribable, took a sip, swirled the bouquet in her mouth, and swallowed. "What an utterly wonderful finish. It is better then I remember.This is such a finely crafted and perfectly aged wine.". She opened the balcony doors, stepped outside and looked out at the sun setting across the Singapore skyline. She took a deep breath and smiled with a deep sense of accomplishment and anticipation.
The next day Headline News reported - "Dana Scales - Technology Tycoon - missing..."

Reviews

[Wanda S. Paryla]

Ok, I am interested! I love the who-did-it thriller dramas and I am interested in why this woman would be missing... either of her own accord, or taken. Just make sure you do some re-reading and editing, spell checking. Might want to separate the paragraphs here for easier reading - yes, I know things don't transfer well from Word to Writer's Cafe. I have trouble with that too. But, overall, I think you've got a good story line here. Keep writing!

[Ash.]

This is very good.
I find the date to be very eerie.